TROPICAL PALMS FUN RESORT ORLANDO
RV PARK LUXURY ON THE DOORSTEP OF WALT DISNEY WORLD
By Harold Merton
When you decide to head to the Orlando area you know that
you will be competing with thousands of other travellers for a campsite.
You have a choice of staying in the Disney or other theme park complexes
complex or in campgrounds at various distances from the theme parks in
the Orlando-Kissimmee area. Sometimes it is the advice and research of
others that leads you to a spot that works out well. Other times we pick
and choose without a lot of information and end up arriving at a facility
that we might not have
selected if we had seen it before we made a decision.
When we decided to visit Orlando in 2004 we got a tip from friends who had just recently become campers. Pat and Ron Brown had been researching an RV trip to Orlando with their new trailer and had found one campground that looked promising.
They produced a brochure from Tropical Palms Fun Resort
in Kissimmee, Florida which stated that the facility "bordered the
Walt Disney World Resort". To me "bordered" was the key
word.
Now we have all been the victim of travel facilities that stretch the
truth and your imagination when it comes to quality and distances and
I must admit I was a bit reserved as I went over the material.It looked
pretty good though and the color brochure did a great job of selling the
facility. It is located just east of the Disney Complex on Hwy192 in what
is considered the Old Town area of Kissimmee.
Besides fabulous RV sites this camping resort features dozens of park
model RVs designed in the Key West theme that are available for rental
right on the spot in their own section of the resort.
Photo by Harold Merton
The rental cost of these units was about $80 a night which
I considered very reasonable.
In my experience if you can find a relationship to one price at a facility
the others will probably be in the same value range. I figured if they
rented out park models for about $80 a night then the roughly $40 per
night range for a campsite was probably reasonable for the Orlando area.We
had decided to stay in the Disney World Resort itself for a few days,
then move outside to another facility so that we could explore some of
the other Orlando area attractions. The fine folks at the Orlando/Orange
County Convention & Visitors Bureau had assisted us in researching
some of the tourist attractions in the Orlando area and we required several
additional days to visit some of those facilities.
Our friends had already reserved a site for their visit and we decided
to book in to Tropical Palms a week or so prior to their arrival because
it fit nicely into our schedule.
They had also booked a park model for a few days for additional members
of their family who were flying down to join them for a few days.
We took a leisurely drive down to the Orlando area visiting a number of
attractions and areas along the way that will appear in the pages of Scope.
When we reached the Orlando area we booked into the Walt Disney World
complex and spent a few days there visiting each of the theme parks. When
that was completed we headed out on 192 (just west of 4) to the Old Town
area. We had purchased the Ford navigational radio guidance system with
our new tow vehicle and that system led us right to the gate of the RV
resort. We probably would not have mastered that on the first pass by
just watching for signs because it had been years since we travelled in
that area.
Tropical Palms Fun Resort is located just far enough off Highway 192 for
it to be in a quiet wooded area that sits about a block behind the Old
Town amusement and shopping area. As we pulled into the driveway we could
see that it was indeed a neat and attractive campground with the facilities
that RVers require.
Photo by Harold Merton
All the buildings at the resort are in the old Key West
style and it fits
right into the Florida vacation mode.One thing this resort pushes is the
friendliness of their staff. It isn't just a claim, they are a happy bunch
and ready to do anything they can to
please you and make your stay as enjoyable as possible. Once registered
in you are guided to your site.
Photo by Harold Merton
When you get settled you no doubt stroll around the facility
to see what they have to offer.
The pool area is in the centre of the resort and is great and very popular.
Photo by Harold Merton
It is open 24 hours so if you stay at a theme park all
day and then want a
midnight swim it is possible. A sign advises late swimmers to consider
those
who have settled in for the night. There's a delightful pool-side cafe
that offers "fast and fresh food with a friendly smile". Breakfast
is very popular and when you check in you get a coupon to try it for free.
If it is a relaxing day at the resort you're having then the kids will
enjoy "their kind of food" at the cafe.
Photo by Harold Merton
Tropical Palms certainly has a wide range of camping rigs
that stay there. During our time there we saw everything from folding
campers to huge $500,000 plus custom RV rigs on semi-tractors designed
to act as
accommodation and shops for the car racing circuit. No matter what you
bring in to the RV park, everyone seems to enjoy their stay and the companionship
of their RV neighbors. The park is well laid out and is kept very clean.
After a heavy rain they
actually vacuumed the water from the streets. Old Town is an area with
a long and colorful history. It has been part of the Kissimmee scene for
years. It is just a short walk from the campground and the weekend cruise
nights there draw people for miles. The narrow
streets remind me of a western town. The sides of the street are lined
with unique shops of all types. The 300 plus antique and classic cars
that gather there every weekend eventually parade down the narrow street
at the conclusion of their cruise, finally parking so that the public
can get a close-up look. We found Old Town quite enjoyable. Tropical Palms
proved to be an excellent base of operations for us after we stayed within
the Disney complex. You can walk to Old Town's seventy plus shops, restaurants,
rides and entertainment for the whole family. They also offer transportation
from the park to theme parks. We extended our few days stay several times
because we liked it so much and we didn't feel that we had much chance
of finding anything that compared to it in midst of the world's most popular
attractions area.We can enthusiastically recommend this RV resort as an
excellent facility with a friendly staff that wants to make your stay
as much fun as possible. If you make a reservation tell them Scope sent
you!
Tropical Palms Fun Resort
2650 Holiday Trail
Kissimmee, Florida 34746
1.800.64.PALMS
407.396.4595
Fax 407.396.8938
www.tropicalpalms.com
Old Town
5770 W. Highway 192
Kissimmee, Florida 34746
Look for the Slingshot and Giant Ferris Wheel
1.800.843.4202 (from US only)
407.396.4888
www.old-town.com